SACRAMENTO, Calif. —
For the first time in Sacramento State University history, the highest math and science honors went to a group of women.
The College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics recognized six women as outstanding students during its Dean’s Award ceremony.
Heather Fletcher, April Loyd, Jillian Robinson, Amber Ginorio-Dean, Erika Ornouski and Ashley Fagundes were selected as the college’s top students. In past years, at least one man was honored.
“To have the best of the best be all female -- it’s incredible,” Fagundes said.
ABC10 spoke with Fagundes, Loyd and Robinson about the honor, post-graduate plans, and their love of math and science.
Ashley Fagundes
Fagundes, 22, moved to Sacramento from Livermore for school. Growing up she raced quarter midgets and couldn’t help wondering about the mechanics of the small cars.
“There’s a lot of physics that goes into the aerodynamics of the car or whether it has to do with the way the suspension works,” she said. “I wanted to know why everything worked the way it did.”
Fagundes took her first chemistry class her senior year of high school and decided it would be her college major.
“Chemistry teaches you perseverance and a lot of problem-solving skills,” she said.
It was Fagundes’ perseverance that kept her on track when her mother and grandmother both died a month apart from each other during her freshman year at Sacramento State.
“I was taking 17 credit hours... calculus, physics and chemistry classes. My grandmother passed away the week before finals,” she said. “I ended up coming out of it with all As and one B. The last thing my mom would ever want me to do was withdraw ...”
Fagundes said doing independent research is the most rewarding part of studying at Sacramento State. She studied cancer-causing compounds produced by forest fires and found in the air.
“We did sampling during the Camp Fire and the Carr Fire,” Fagundes said. “It was very concerning when we found one of our compounds in our samples and it was much higher than expected. It was higher in the Camp Fire than the Carr Fire than at any other time.”
Fagundes believes researching helped her get into grad school. She’ll be attending the University of California, Davis to earn a doctoral degree in analytical chemistry in the fall.
April Loyd
Loyd, 22, was overcome with happiness when she found out she was chosen as an outstanding student by her professors.
“In the math and science world, women are fighting to go to the top and be recognized,” she said. “We didn’t notice that all of us were women until the end of the ceremony. There are no words to really describe it.”
Loyd said she plans to become a college mathematics professor. She’s starting a doctoral program in the fall at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln.
“I love to teach. I love mathematics, and I love learning. This is the best of both worlds,” Loyd said.
She said her love for math started at a young age.
“Everything about it is so interesting to me,” Loyd said. “People think math comes so easily to me, and that’s not true. I worked very hard, and I didn’t give up.”
She said her determination carried her through while navigating financial aid and an ongoing health issue. Loyd said she worked two jobs her entire college career and applied for several scholarships in order to pay for school.
She said she constantly went back and forth to the doctor for checkups. She was diagnosed with Hodgkins Lymphoma at 16-years-old. She said she recently finished her fifth year of remission.
“My love for mathematics and learning just overtook all of that,” Loyd said. “Look at me now. I graduated debt-free with a 3.8 GPA and I’m going to grad school.”
Loyd said it’s important to encourage girls and women to pursue STEM majors and careers.
“We can do anything we want. We can do anything we put our minds to. You are capable. You are smart enough,” she said.
Jillian Robinson
Robinson said she didn’t realize how big of a deal it was to receive the outstanding student award until she was up on the stage.
“Standing up there next to five other women -- it was really inspiring and empowering for all of us to be recognized for our hard work.”
The 22-year-old physics major said she couldn’t imagine studying anything else.
“Every time I open a physics book, it feels like I’m looking at a rule book to the universe,” Robinson said. “It’s cool to look at the world around me and understand the way it works and why it works.”
She was inducted into the national physics honor society, Sigma Pi Sigma.
Robinson said maintaining her mental health and her school work was challenging.
“I have really bad anxiety, depression and PTSD,” she said.
She said some semesters were harder than others, but the support she had from her peers and professors helped her push through.
“My peers were my support system. They were there every step of the way,” she said. “The physics department has amazing people who are always there for you when you need a shoulder to cry on. We just have some really great people.”
Robinson’s time at Sacramento State isn’t over. She’s returning in the fall to earn a master’s of education with plans to teach high school physics and math.
“I want to inspire students, especially girls, to go into STEM and really be lifelong learners,” she said. “I want to teach students to love learning and love the discovery process.”